Garage-heating system

ABSTRACT

A garage-heating system for use with normally closed garages comprising at least one gas-fired infrared heater mounted on the ceiling of the garage, the normal infiltration of air through a garage outside wall being sufficient to permit operation of a gas-fired infrared heater of optimum capacity without the need for special air supply ducts or venting.

United States Patent Inventor Howard E. Gllbert Novelty, Ohlo Appl. No. 56,627 Filed July 20, 1970 Patented Nov. 23, 1971 Assignee Van Dorn Company Cleveland, Ohio Continuation-impart of application Ser. No. 75lL3 57 Aug. 5, now abandoned.

GARAGE-HEATING SYSTEM 7 Claims, 3 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 263/19 A, 126/92, 126/271.l Int. Cl F2319/04 [50] Field of Search 263/19 A; 126/92 B. 271.2. 271.1; 431/328. 329

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,510,239 5/1970 Partiot 431/328 Primary Examiner-John l. Camby AttorneyMeyer, Tilberry and Body ABSTRACT: A garage-heating system for use with normally closed garages comprising at least one gas-fired infrared heater mounted on the ceiling of the garage, the normal infiltration of air through a garage outside wall being sufficient to permit operation of a gas-fired infrared heater of optimum capacity without the need for special air supply ducts or ventmg.

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[NH-NH m. HOWARD EGILBERT ATTORNEYS.

GARAGE-HEATING SYSTEM DESCRIPTION This application is a continuation-in-part application of parent application Ser. No. 750,357; filed Aug. 5, 1968, now abandoned.

The present invention relates to an improved heating system for normally closed garages, and in particular to a gas-fired infrared heating system.

It is known to heat normally closed garages with space heaters, but many disadvantages are experienced with the use of such heaters. For instance, space heaters are bulky, and must be vented to the outside, involving high installation costs. In addition, space heaters transmit heat by convection primarily, which is relatively inefiicient, and for this reason, a particular area will require a high B.t.u. unit to maintain a desired temperature, and will involve correspondingly high fuel costs. Space heaters suffer from the further disadvantage, particularly for use with garages having the overhead-doortype enclosure, that recovery to a desired garage temperature when outside temperatures are low is relatively slow after the garage door has been open for a short period of time.

Other conventional types of heaters sufier from equally serious disadvantages.

It is an object of the present invention to overcome the above disadvantages, and in particular, to provide a more easily installed, high-recover, economical heating system.

In accordance with the present invention, there is provided a residential garage-heating system for use with normally closed garages comprising at least one gas-fired infrared heater mounted on the ceiling of the garage, the capacity of the heater being that to obtain generally optimum garage temperatures following known space-heating design criteria, i.e., on the order of 25,000 B.t.u.s per hour. It was discovered surprisingly in accordance with the present invention, that a garage outside wall has more than sufficient leakage area, even though the garage door may be closed, to satisfy air supply and venting requirements of a gas-fired infrared heater of design capacity without the need for special ducts and vents.

Preferably, the gas-fired infrared heater is mounted at least about 6 feet from the floor, is centered in the roof near the rear wall of the garage remote from the garage door, and is angled downwardly in the direction of the garage door.

It will be apparent that although gas-fired infrared heaters have been known for a long time, and although many of their advantages are well known, the present invention offers several very unexpected advantages. For instance, it is well known that gas-fired infrared heaters have the advantage of heating the object onto which the heaters are directed, that they are clean, and produce no smoke, grit, fumes, or dirt. However, in the past, the use of such infrared heaters has been almost exclusively limited to outdoor settings, such as loading docks, platforms, doorways, recreation areas and swimming pools, and/or for industrial spot-heating purposes wherein the building was well ventilated. It is quite unexpected that a gasfired infrared heater of design capacity can be used with facility (no special venting, connections or ducts) in a small enclosed garage area.

The invention and advantages thereof will become more apparent upon consideration of the following specification, with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which I FIG. 1 is a plan view of a garage illustrating the concepts of the invention;

FIG. 2 is an elevation view of the garage of FIG. 1; and

FIG. 3 is an enlarged perspective view of a gas-fired infrared heater which can be used in accordance with the present invention.

Referring to the drawings, there is illustrated a nonnally closed garage 12 having sidewalls i4 and 16 and a rear wall 18. The front of the garage is enclosed by an overhead door 20 of conventional type, and the garage preferably is provided with a cement floor 22. Within the garage there is illustrated an automobile 19, covered with snow 21, snow also being shown on the floor of the garage, to illustrate conditions which may exist during the winter months.

Adjacent to the rear wall of the garage and suspended from the ceiling of the garage is a gas-fired infrared heater 24, angled at about 25 with the horizontal, and spaced at least about 22 inches from the rear wall, and about 24 inches or 2 feet from the ceiling. Controls for the gas-fired infrared heater will include a sensor 26 mounted about 20 inches from the heater in the direction of the garage door and near the ceiling. Other positions for the sensor out of the direct radiation of the heater are satisfactory. It is understood that these dimensions are representative only, and dependent upon known heating criteria.

In this example of the invention, for a 20x22 foot, two-car garage, a single gas-fired infrared heater having a capacity of about 25,000 B.t.u.s per hour will be used. One suitable heater is made by the Van Dorn Company, Infra-Red Division, for instance their model No. Gl-l25ON illustrated in a Van Dorn Bulletin No. VG-25-l. A suitable control may be a hydraulic thermostat such as one made by the Grayson Controls Division of Robertshaw Controls Company, identified as their Unitrol control (Registered Trademark of Robertshaw Controls Company) and includes sensor 26. An advantage with such a control is that no special electrical wiring is required.

All that is required for the gas-fired infrared heater is a single gas conduit 28 leading from the backwall of the garage to the heater. If desired, a transite board or other material may be positioned against the ceiling above the gas-fired infrared heater, but this is optional, and it must be emphasized that no venting or air supply connections are required.

In this latter respect, one of the principal advantages of the invention is illustrated. As is well known, the gas-fired infrared heater, as shown in FIG. 3, comprises a primary grid 30 where combustion takes place and heats the grid to a radiant temperature, desirably 1,600 F. A reflector 34 having surfaces which diverge from the grid direct the infrared radiation from the grid downwardly toward the automobile 19, snow 21, and floor 20. The sensor 26 is shielded from the direct radiation of the grid 30 by the reflector 34.

In the above-mentioned Van Dom heater, the primary grid is made up of three close-spaced, fine-mesh woven screens made of Inconel 600 (Trademark of lntemational Nichel) wire. A gas jet 32 aspirates air into a plenum chamber disposed behind the grid. The gas mixture flows through and burns in the grid, heating it to a radiant temperature. Radiant heat is then transmitted from the primary grid through a reverberator grid 33 mounted approximately one-half inch from the surface of the primary grid. The reverberator grid is also made of lnconel 600. This grid functions to radiate heat back to the primary grid assisting in bringing the primary grid to the proper temperature of approximately l,600 F. Obviously, other materials may be used for the primary grid such as, for example, ceramics. Ceramics, however, are not as desirable due to the inherent shorter life of the ceramic-type grid, their frangibility and their inability to withstand sharp temperature changes. That is, if a homeowner should accidentally direct a stream of water against the ceramic grid while washing his car, the grid is quite likely to immediately split or crack.

It was discovered in accordance with the present invention, that, quite surprisingly, more than enough heat could be provided by a small-B.t.u. infrared gas-fired unit to adequately heat a garage following known design criteria, and at the same time the B.t.u. requirements were such that normal infiltration of air into a garage of a specific size through the garage outside wall would satisfy combustion air requirements and obviate the need for special air supply ducts.

The reason for this is that a gas-fired infrared heater heats the garage utilizing all three types of heating, radiation, conduction, and convection, but primarily radiation. This is a principal distinction from the conventional space heater which heats only by convection. By radiantly heating the garage floor, the automobile in the garage, and items such as a water tap or faucet in the garage, maintaining these objects, rather than the garage air or space at a desired temperature, a single 25,000 B.t.u. per hour infrared unit in a garage of about 20 by 22 feet will have the same effect as a space heater of much larger capacity in the order of 60,000 to 75.000 B.t.u.s per hour.

Quite clearly a 75,000 B.t.u. per hour space heater would in turn require positive venting to the outside to disperse the products of combustion, and in addition would probably require a special air inlet for combustion air. In the case of a gas-fired infrared heater of design capacity, in the order of about 25,000 B.t.u. per hour, it was found surprisingly that the normal infiltration of air through cracks which occur in an outside wall of a garage are more than adequate to handle the combustion air requirements. A small vent on the order of 30 square inches located in the upper part of an outside wall may be provided. The vent allows for the escape of water vapor resulting from the combustion of hydrocarbons and the evaporation of snow or water during operation of the heater.

For instance, a typical building code will require the order of 300 to 400 cubic feet of air per minute per 100,000 B.t.u. s per hour, for an infrared heater. This in turn requires an intake opening of about 100 square inches. Correspondingly, a 25,000 B.t.u. per hour unit, would require an opening in the order of 25 square inches, and normal cracks and openings found in an outside wall of a garage are far in excess of this.

In addition, the combustion of gas in a gas-fired infrared heater is substantially complete so that there is only a negligible production of carbon monoxide with such a heater; so minute that the carbon monoxide dissipates itself into the surrounding air. This dissipation is in turn so complete that the present heater as part of a garage-heating system has qualified for certification as an unvented heater.

Other unexpected advantages occur from the use of a gasfired infrared heater for garage heating. Since the heating is primarily by radiation, the floor of the garage is always kept warm, quickly eliminating piles of snow or ice which accumulate on the garage floor and quickly drying the garage floor, a desirable safety aspect of the present invention. Further the radiation onto the car itself heats the inside of the car, particularly if the windows are kept closed, making the car comfortable at all timesfor the car owner. This is an advantage which would not accrue from use of a space heater.

Further, if the garage door is opened, and then closed, the recovery in the garage to a desired temperature is rapid, particularly as compared to a space heater. First of all, since in infrared heating, the interest primarily is in the temperature of the objects being heated, i.e., the temperature of the floor, automobile and water tap or faucet, these objects retain heat better and longer than air in the garage, and the recovery required is to a correspondingly lesser degree. In addition, with respect to garage air temperature, since normal temperature with a gas-fired infrared heater can be less than normal temperature required in space heating, the recovery is to a lower temperature, and thereby faster.

As a further unexpected advantage, the gas-fired infrared heater tends to result in little loss of heat through cracks in the garage, whereas the space heater, developing a moving flow of air, induces a high loss of heat through cracks in the garage.

Because of these advantages, particularly the latter and the high efticiency of a gas-fired infrared heater, a 25,000 Btu unit will suffice where normally a 75,000 B.t.u. space heater would be required, which in turn means that no special venting is required.

A further unexpected advantage mentioned above in passing resides in the fact that a gas-fired infrared heater will maintain waterlines and connections (faucets or taps) in the garage in an unfrozen state despite extreme ambient conditions. By contrast space heaters cannot be relied upon to do this.

Although the invention has been described with reference to specific embodiments and adyanta es, variations within the scope of the following claims will be own to those skilled in the art.

Having thus described my invention, 1 claim:

1. In a residential garage of the type not exceeding 440 square feet and having two closed side portions, a closed rear portion, an openable front portion and a roof, a heating system for said garage comprising at least one infrared heater having a grid member capable of being heated to approximately l,600 F. and radiating infrared energy, said heater including a surrounding reflector member diverging from said grid, said heater being mounted in relation to said rear portion and spaced towards said front portion from said rear portion and at least approximately 6 feet above the floor of said garage wherein the output of said infrared heater totals approximately 25,000 B.t.u.s per hour and wherein said grid of at least one infrared heater is positioned approximately at an angle of 25 downwardly from the horizontal in the direction of said front portion, which system further includes a hydraulic temperature sensor spaced from said heater a distance remote from the direct radiation thereof.

2. The heating system of claim 1 wherein said heater is of the type which includes metallic grids and is mounted a distance not exceeding 2 feet from said rear portion towards said front portion and wherein said sensor is spaced from said floor a distance greater than said heater.

3. The heating system of claim 1 wherein the combustion air requirements for said infrared heater are supplied by normal air infiltration from outside of said garage at a rate of approximately cubic feet per minute.

4. The heating system of claim 1 wherein said infrared heater comprises one heater with a capacity of approximately 25,000 B.t.u.s per hour.

5. The system of claim 2 wherein said metallic grids comprise primary and secondary grids.

6. The system of claim 5 wherein said grids are constructed from high-alloy nickel material capable of withstanding high heat intensities.

7. The system of claim 2 wherein said heater is supported by cantilever mounting means extending generally outwardly from said rear portion towards said front portion.

t a l I! i 

1. In a residential garage of the type not exceeding 440 square feet and having two closed side portions, a closed rear portion, an openable front portion and a roof, a heating system for said garage comprising at least one infrared heater having a grid member capable of being heated to approximately 1,600* F. and radiating infrared energy, said heater including a surrounding reflector member diverging from said grid, said heater being mounted in relation to said rear portion and spaced towards said front portion from said rear portion and at least approximately 6 feet above the floor of said garage wherein the output of said infrared heater totals approximately 25,000 B.t.u.''s per hour and wherein said grid of at least one infrared heater is positioned approximately at an angle of 25* downwardly from the horizontal in the direction of said front portion, which system further includes a hydraulic temperature sensor spaced from said heater a distance remote from the direct radiation thereof.
 2. The heating system of claim 1 wherein said heater is of the type which includes metallic grids and is mounted a distance not exceeding 2 feet from said rear portion towards said front portion and wherein said sensor is spaced from said floor a distance greater than said heater.
 3. The heating system of claim 1 wherein the combustion air requirements for said infrared heater are supplied by normal air infiltration from outside of said garage at a rate of approximately 90 cubic feet per minute.
 4. The heating system of claim 1 wherein said infrared heater comprises one heater with a capacity of approximately 25,000 B.t.u.''s per hour.
 5. The system of claim 2 wherein said metallic grids comprise primary and secondary grids.
 6. The system of claim 5 wherein said grids are constructed from high-alloy nickel material capable of withstanding high heat intensities.
 7. The system of claim 2 wherein said heater is supported by cantilever mounting means extending generally outwardly from said rear portion towards said front portion. 